In the end, of course, New York Congressman Anthony Weiner said he did it to himself. He was the one who got in contact with women, he admits. He concedes he sent lewd pictures, and then lied about it.

“[I’m] deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment and actions,” Weiner said again and again. “This was a very dumb thing to do.”

But look at the channels he used. Twitter. Facebook. Choking back tears at his news conference, he said he panicked after he sent what he thought was a private tweet with an image attached — and then realized he had actually made it public, available to thousands of “followers.”

Why should we look at the “channels he used”? He’s a big boy, a supposed adult, not too mention an elected federal official (not that being one gives one some sort of special state versus the rest of us).

“He didn’t realize everything he did was potentially public,” said Gartenberg. “On the Internet there’s no such thing as a retraction.”

It is especially true on Twitter, which Weiner said he used to send messages to women. One’s so-called tweets are so quick, and so short, that they discourage complete spelling — much less thought about the consequences of sending something.

So, because Twitter supposedly makes you not think, it’s partly at fault.

“If you are doing something that would be embarrassing if found out, here is your big chance to stop,” Mike Moran, chief strategist at Converseon, wrote in a blog post. “The bigger you are, the more successful you are, and the more famous you are, as a person or as a brand, the more likely that someone, someday is going to call you on this bad behavior. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.”

Twitter compounds the risk because messages on it are public unless you specify otherwise.

Obviously, we need federal legislation to stop the uncertainty, it’s the only fair solution. Or, people who are sending underwear shots to coeds should take the time to make sure they are doing it privately. I know I tend to take a bit more time, and thought, when I’m send a more serious Tweet, @ or DM, to someone. I’m sure you do, too.